


Five Times - Troy & Animals

by roselew



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Animals, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-06
Updated: 2014-08-06
Packaged: 2018-02-12 01:06:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2089998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roselew/pseuds/roselew
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Troy’s not exactly a cat person, but baby animals are always cute, and the kitten cupped in his palms has wide, blue eyes and tiny round feet and when Troy brings it to his face it makes a noise that makes his heart feel fuzzy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Times - Troy & Animals

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr prompt yoo

**one**  - Their family dog was already eight years old when Troy was born. It was an average-sized, average-looking thing of no discernible breed, that drooled and kind of smelled and would eat any food left unattended for more than a minute.

Troy remembers very little about this dog, except that it died when he was four - he hadn’t understood, not really, but he’d cried anyway. His mom had it cremated, and its ashes sat in a tiny oak box for as long as Troy could remember. 

Troy’s parents got him another dog for his sixth birthday - a wriggling little terrier that could sprint from one side of the house to the other in under ten seconds.

It was great, until one day Troy put his face a little too close and needed four stitches to fix the damage.

He didn’t cry so hard when this dog died, and he felt guilty about it for years. 

**two**  - Troy wakes up to complete silence.

Usually, by this time (10:12am), Annie, Abed or both of them are already up, trying not to make too much noise to avoid waking him and being louder because of it. Troy lays still for a minute, listens closely, and then gets up, peeling the blankets aside to peer into the rest of the apartment. 

Abed, it turns out, is already up - still pyjama-clad, bowl of cereal in-hand, staring, head-cocked at one of the armchairs that sits in front of the TV. His eyes shift to Troy as he emerges, and he slowly points one finger at the chair before him. 

"Bird." He says simply, and Troy frowns, takes a few steps until he’s stood at Abed’s side. 

"Huh." Troy says. A small brown bird peers up at them, crouched on the seat of the chair. Troy thinks it looks mad - he says this to Abed.

Abed thinks it looks disgruntled. 

They sit around it, Troy perching on the arm of the chair beside it while Abed takes the other seat. The TV’s playing some cartoon on mute, and when it breaks for a commercial, the bird hops, stretches its wings, and circles the room once before heading straight out of the half-open window.

They watch it leave. Abed un-mutes the TV.

**three**  - Troy’s never been this hot - the sun coming down so strong that he can feel it in physical waves, sweat prickling at his temples. The sand is red and so is the sky, and Troy thinks it’s kind of beautiful, even if he is an hour away from dying of dehydration. 

Their ‘western-themed getaway’ wasn’t going like they planned it at all. Jeff and Annie had headed into the desert hours ago to search for their tour guide, and Britta and Shirley were stuck back in a fake tavern taking care of Pierce, who hadn’t drank enough water and passed out from the heat.

Troy and Abed had headed out to find Jeff and Annie, or the tour guide, or anything, really, but the desert seemed to stretch forever and even on horseback, they don’t seem to be making any progress. Troy looks towards Abed - his eyes are bright, fevered, his white shirt stained red from the clouds of dust. Troy hands him his bottle of water. 

Troy had been on a horse before, but with the comfort of fences and grass, not endless sand and dry heat. He pulls back on the reins, draws his horse to a standstill. He can feel sweat clinging to its fur when he pats it on the shoulder. Abed stops, too, and the creature beneath him tosses its head, dripping spit, swinging its hind end around until its facing the direction they had come from. 

Abed looks natural on top of a horse, Troy thinks but doesn’t say, and Abed meets his eyes, curious, as his mount shifts beneath him. Troy swallows, tries to wet his throat enough to speak. Abed hands the water back. 

"Maybe we should just go back, I mean, we’re not getting any closer to anything." Troy says, voice scratching, and Abed doesn’t frown, but he looks at the red earth for a moment, licks his dry lips. 

"Jeff and Annie-" He starts, voice failing, and Troy nods, blinks, waves a fly away from his eyes. 

He clicks his tongue, presses his heels into his horse’s sides and surges forwards. He hears Abed cough behind him, but the water bottle’s empty. 

**four**  - Troy’s not exactly a cat person, but baby animals are always cute, and the kitten cupped in his palms has wide, blue eyes and tiny round feet and when Troy brings it to his face it makes a noise that makes his heart feel fuzzy. 

Everybody else apparently feels the same, each holding their own kitten, soft-eyed and completely, silently, engrossed. 

He’s not entirely sure why the dean had so many kittens, or why he thought they would make good Christmas gifts, but today had been a weird day for them all, so he decides not to think about any of it too much. 

**five**  - Something huge and dark scuttles past Jeff’s wrist and across the table, and Troy yelps. 

The group falls silent. They stare at Troy, then watch the spider as it ambles along, and then they laugh. 

Okay, so his retreat hadn’t been particularly dignified, but there are some things Troy wouldn’t tolerate. One of those things is spiders bigger than a penny. He glares at the group as their laughter subsides.

Abed doesn’t laugh, at least. He intercepts the spider as it passes by him and cages it in his palms, stands, and quirks his brow knowingly at Troy. He leaves without a word: Abed has something against killing spiders - he’s the kind who prefers to carry them somewhere safe, and that’s fine with Troy.

So long as the ‘somewhere safe’ is far, far away from where he is. 

He clears his throat and sits again. Shirley pats his hand from across the table. Annie smiles apologetically. Abed returns a few minutes later; Troy says ‘thank you,’ quietly enough that only they can hear. Abed smiles and says nothing. 

 


End file.
